


Prototype Testing

by hypatia



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Flirting, M/M, Pre-James Bond/Q, Q reminisces, Workplace Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27781504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypatia/pseuds/hypatia
Summary: “You were fond of him,” observed Bond.“I was,” said Q. His smile remained and was joined by a faraway expression that held an unexpected hint of something else.Bond tilted his head in surmise, “You were—close?” he asked.Q focused on Bond with a warm smile. “Very,” he acknowledged and bit his lip.“That old devil,” said Bond. He lightened his tone to a gentle tease. “What happened to ‘age is no guarantee of efficiency’?”--Bond and Q have a late-night conversation about Q's predecessor.
Relationships: Q Boothroyd/Q (Bond-Craig movies)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	Prototype Testing

Bond was on extended leave recovering from an injury. After pestering Tanner, and then M, for something to do one too many times, he’d found himself temporarily assigned to Q-branch to help test whatever Q was tinkering with this week.

This involved brief periods of Bond causing small explosions and one unexpected, yet impressive, fireball and the quartermaster making thoughtful noises and tinkering for as long as an hour before the next round of mayhem. Bond was amused to witness first-hand exactly how much his new quartermaster enjoyed the mayhem. It seemed—promising.

“Seeing you work like this makes it clear why you were chosen as Major Boothroyd’s successor,” he said.

Q looked up from his work. “I learned a great deal from him,” he said, with a softer smile than Bond had yet seen from the younger man. “Being able to assist a craftsman of his caliber, at the height of his talent, his mastery? It was a great privilege.”

“You were fond of him,” observed Bond.

“I was,” said Q. His smile remained and was joined by a faraway expression that held an unexpected hint of something else.

Bond tilted his head in surmise, “You were—close?” he asked.

Q focused on Bond with a warm smile. “Very,” he acknowledged and bit his lip.

“That old devil,” said Bond. He lightened his tone to a gentle tease. “What happened to ‘age is no guarantee of efficiency’?”

“Surely you’re aware Bond, that there are times when efficiency must take second place to the quality of the workmanship. And of course,” Q pitched his voice lower and more intimate, “I recognize the value of skills that have been honed and perfected over a lifetime.”

“I suppose,” said Bond thoughtfully, “And what would you say, about his—workmanship?”

“You seem to have mistaken me for a man who would kiss and tell,” said Q, amused. He took a sip of tea and continued smiling faintly.

“You can’t drop something like this and then not say anything,” coaxed Bond. “Not at all fair Q.”

“You did ask,” said Q. Then he chuckled, “All right. One thing. I’m sure even you noticed that he was—exceptionally—good with his hands.”

Bond blinked. “Yes, I suppose I did know that,” he said.

“You really never considered it?” asked Q.

“The Major was devoted to his partner when I met him,” said Bond.

“Yes, of course,” said Q. “He’d been a widower nearly two years when I joined.”

“He was twice your age,” said Bond, still slightly flummoxed by the whole conversation.

Q raised an eyebrow. “Nearly thrice when I became his assistant.” He pursed his lips. “Fresh out of university. Young and enthusiastic. Eager,” he smiled slyly. “I was apparently quite irresistible.”

“I can imagine,” Bond breathed. “Did you set out to seduce your superior? Is that it?”

“Not at all,” said Q. “I harbored what I was convinced was a hopeless crush. He noticed and—eventually disabused me of that notion.”

“Why didn’t M have kittens over that?”

“He was lonely. I needed…” Q began, then stopped, unwilling to reveal whatever he’d begun to say. “She judged it good for both of us.”

“I can barely imagine it,” admitted Bond.

“I miss him,” Q admitted. “I hope you didn’t think of him as a ridiculous old man who occasionally gave you exploding pens.”

“No,” said Bond and shook his head vehemently. “He was a friend. And I respected him a great deal.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Q. He turned back to his work and Bond understood he had just passed a test.

**Author's Note:**

> Continuing my tendency to write extremely rare-pairs... This head-canon ambushed me recently and then I wrote this in a morning.


End file.
